I (34M) don’t feel wife (29F) is putting forth any effort

r/

Background: We have been together 5 years now living together for 1 and married for 2 months in an HCOL area.

I sold my house a year ago before marriage because she complained that her commute was too great (45 min one way). I had the same commute. We now live 5 minutes from work and live together in an apt which costs more than my mortgage. Shes been through 4 jobs since we’ve met – I think I’m bitter that she never tried looking for one near the house.

Financially: Trying to find a new house has been an absolute nightmare. I make about double what she does and pay rent as a ratio of incomes (115/58 a year). I pay all utilities, most of groceries, eating out, entertainment, etc. She is paying 800 for rent with a 500 car payment and cell phone.

I do ALL of the saving and paid off her credit card debt of 9k. Shes still living paycheck to paycheck despite 2260 after taxes and paying the said 800 and 500 monthly payments.

Household duty breakdown:
she cleans and does a phenomenal job too. Spends about 30 minutes a day and usually a couple hours on Sunday doing a deep clean. She also does laundry which is rolled into that time frame. I do everything else including cooking, grocery shopping, finance, “subscription” management like phones/utilities/insurance/internet/etc, exercise and feed dogs (1 hour per day). I spend about 3 hours a day M-F for a total of 15 hours while she does about 5 on avg. Im very disciplined so its easy to avg – her not so much so the 5 hours is conservative.

Relationship: She rarely initiates anything. I mean anything. I have to bring it up. I cannot speak to her without walking on about 3ft of broken glass. Im not good at this too so that doesn’t help. Im direct and somewhat abrasive. IE: im stressed about finding another house. I get quiet/thoughtful when I’m stressed which Ive communicated to her multiple times. This time, she started acting cold/quiet/angry towards me. When confronted and without paraphrasing she basically told me she was acting that way because I was being quiet. I explained why and she got upset and it turned into another fire I had to put out rather than the comforting I’m used to in any other relationship I’ve had. She doesnt initiate anything. She just gets bitter towards me until I ask what the issue is and then I have to fix. Shes stubborn and unwilling to compromise on just about everything whereas Im completely opposite.

I need help and I’m looking here as a starting point, similar experiances that were resolved, how to fix, you name it.

TL;DR
I feel there is a large imbalance in our relationship financially, chore wise, and emotionally. Wife is hard to talk to/sensitive so I am looking for advice, resolution and similar experiences.

Comments

  1. RGV4RCV Avatar

    Couples therapy to improve communication might help. And you need a budget, you could try posting for advice in a personal finance sub.

  2. hatethiscity Avatar

    You’re in your 30s, and you sold your house for your wife’s convenience? If your friend told you this, what would you say to him?

  3. lzycmt Avatar

    why did you marry her